“History is the study of the past and its interpretation in the present. Historians make sense of the past using evidence from a wide range of written, oral, visual, digital and material sources. Using a range of approaches, they examine past events, processes and relationships, interpreting their origins, significance and consequences. History is used to enrich our contemporary understanding by considering continuity and change, and by clarifying context and contingency, in societies from the earliest times to the present. Good History is forensic, able to cut through mythologies and shape understandings of a complex world. History provides a perspective on change over time that can inform current decision-making and shape policy frameworks.” (Hay, 2010, p.8)

The project investigated how we can develop the necessary skills and knowledge of our first year students in history in order to set them on the path to graduating with the threshold learning outcomes required by the time they graduate with a history major. The project included a workshop attended by 40 history academics from 13 universities. The resources on this website were developed using the outputs from these workshops together with literature on the teaching of history.